“The great challenge demands a shared vision and commitment from all,” stated the Secretary of State for Tourism, Commerce, and Services on the occasion of World Tourism Day, which is celebrated today, when asked about the significant challenges the sector faces to sustain record growth.
This year’s World Tourism Day carries the theme of “tourism and sustainable transformation.”
“In Portugal, we have the ambition and the conditions to lead by example in building increasingly inclusive, accessible, and responsible tourism that generates wealth and well-being for present and future generations. Together, we are constructing a future where tourism regenerates, innovates, and shares value across all our territories,” added Pedro Machado, summarizing the situation.
The president of the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP) forecasted 2025 as “another positive year for tourism, in terms of overnight stays, number of guests, and revenue,” exhibiting “sustainable growth” and demonstrating “how tourism continues to be a crucial lever for the Portuguese economy and an indispensable sector for the country.”
Francisco Calheiros referenced the latest report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in collaboration with Oxford Economics, which forecasts that tourism will contribute 62.7 billion euros to the national economy in 2025, amounting to 21.5% of GDP.
Tourism has been driving the economy, although there has been a slowdown in contribution to growth as foreign tourists spend increasingly more in Portugal.
In 2024, tourism in Portugal contributed 34 billion euros to the economy, equating to 12% of GDP, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE), a figure consistent with 2023 (12%) and above the 2022 percentage (11.2%).
In 2023, the tourism activity recorded historical highs. However, while it was responsible for nearly half of the real economic growth that year (48% of the total), its weight decreased in 2024, with tourism accounting for only 15% of GDP variation.
Final data for 2025 is not yet available, but it is already evident that in July, tourist revenue, with foreign tourists’ expenses in Portugal, reached 4.1 billion euros, according to the Bank of Portugal (BdP), the highest value for a July in the statistical series.
“Tourism in Portugal continues to be a dynamic activity, with a great ability to generate value across practically all regions of the country,” emphasized the president of the CTP.
However, the growth, according to him, does not depend solely on having more tourists. “It also depends on a country with governmental stability, timely strategic decisions, and economic conditions that allow companies to plan and invest with confidence. To ensure the sustainability of tourism activity, there are factors, challenges, needs that we need to consider, such as the actual existence of a new airport, practical implementation of a railway strategy, the privatization of TAP, effective responses to labor needs, a reduction in Portugal’s tax burden, and a true reform of the state,” said Francisco Calheiros.
The president of Turismo de Portugal remarked to Lusa that the priority is to “advance the value chain, energize the sector during lower activity periods, and promote development in regions currently with less tourism significance.”
This leader believes that, ultimately, the sustained growth of the sector “should stem from constructing a differentiated and higher quality offering capable of attracting high value-added markets.”
